I am a Senior Political Contributor at Forbes and the official 'token lefty,' as the title of the page suggests. However, writing from the 'left of center' should not be confused with writing for the left as I often annoy progressives just as much as I upset conservative thinkers. In addition to the pages of Forbes.com, you can find me every Saturday morning on your TV arguing with my more conservative colleagues on "Forbes on Fox" on the Fox News Network and at various other times during the week serving as a liberal talking head on other Fox News and Fox Business Network shows. I also serve as a Democratic strategist with Mercury Public Affairs.

It turns out that being a good corporate citizen is as important to selling pizzas as the thinness of the crust or the quality of the cheese.

If you don’t believe it, just ask Papa John CEO, John Schnatter.

As covered—and criticized—in this column in great detail, Mr. Schnatter decided to mix his politics with his pepperoni when suggesting that he would be cutting the work hours for Papa John employees in order to bring them below the 30 hour per week threshold that would require Schnatter to provide his employees with healthcare benefits.

It turns out, the pizza eating public did not approve.

Indeed, so serious was the reaction that Schnatter was forced to publish an op-ed piece where he sought to convince us that he never really intended to cut back worker hours but had simply been speculating on what he might do in response to the legislation.

According to YouGov BrandIndex, a leading marketing survey that measures brand perception in the marketplace (called “Buzz”), Papa John’s had good reason for concern as the pizza chain’s brand identity has plummeted from a high of 32 on election day, to a remarkably low score of 4 among adults who have eaten at causal dining restaurants during the past month.

Ouch.

Papa John is not alone in his anti-Obamacare misery.

Fast food server, Applebee’s, possessed a healthy Buzz score of 35 before Zane Terkel, CEO of one of the company’s largest franchisees, appeared on television to complain about the law and to announce that he would not be building more restaurants or hiring any more workers in response to his objections to Obamacare.

Applebee’s “pre-Terkel” Buzz score of 35 now sits at a pathetic 5.

I don’t imagine Mr. Terkel will be getting many Christmas cards this year from other Applebee’s franchise owners.

While these corporate complainers have sought to explain away the hit they are experiencing at the hands of the public’s perception, one such company is facing the music straight on. Darden Restaurants, Inc.— owner of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse—has lowered its profit projections for the quarter ending November 25th, acknowledging that its bad numbers are the result of poorly performing promotions, Superstorm Sandy and…wait for it…the poor publicity it engendered by its decision to test out a plan to cut back on healthcare costs by putting more workers on part-time schedules.

Check out these rather epic declines:

Hopefully, other businesses seeking to avoid their responsibilities under the healthcare law—such as Walmart who intends to cut back employee hours in the effort to push workers onto Medicaid rolls rather than take responsibility for their employees’ health care—will get the message.

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I question the 1.5% referenced. I am a lifelong member of Kaiser, and have paid some or all of my monthly health insurance premiums through my 33 yr employer, Bank of America, including post retirement, since I don’t yet qualify for Medicare.. My monthly insurance premium for “Employee + Child(ren)” is $817.77 for 2012. My monthly premium, for the same coverage, is going to $967.11 for 2013, an increase of $149.34 or 18.26%. The $1,792 annual increase is closer $2,500 annual Obamacare increase mentioned by Romney during the campaign. Fortunately?, my income is nowhere close to the trigger for the new 3.8% Obamacare tax. So who is responsible for my 18.26% increase; Kaiser?, Bank of America?, or Obamacare? Will these premium increases, & other anticipated tax increases help or hurt the U.S. business climate?

Way to shill for the government. Are you a paid government official? Cass Sunstein advocates using government to push its viewpoint on internet forums, along with banning anonymous internet posts, so the dissenters can be punished – under legitimate hate speech provisions, of course.

Economics 101 tells us that limiting prices yields scarcity. See the 1970s gas lines for Dems last go at controlling prices. Medical costs have outpaced inflation since Medicare and Medicade were imposed to keep it affordable.

The lines and absurd waits in NHS, Canada are omitted in any coverage of socialized medicine. When the rationing starts, no doubt, government will be immune from criticism, and even more power and property must be transferred from you to the government – a never ending flow that Allen Gingrich, Rick Ungar and other foes of liberty will endorse no end. Never forget, what the S in nSdap stood for. Totalitarians always have benevolent fronts. If you doubt this is a totalitarian scheme, wait for the IRS audits and seizures when you try using your free will as a free citizen to decline this benevolent “benefit.” The 21st century Democrat party cannot be reconciled with the US Constitution. That’s why the Left tries to ignore it with living-breathing “interpretive” tripe, and otherwise condemn it (read condemn freedom from totalitarianism).

The Left told anyone who would listen in the 1920s and 1930s that Capitalism and liberty were obsolete. See this article and supportive comments to see that nothing has changed. Their spoke people like George Bernard Shaw and every labor union you could name endorsed Fascism and Communism. They still refuse to condemn any Communist atrocity.

Wrong, Rick. People without insurance don’t by default go to the emergency room. Except for a 3-year period, I’ve never had health insurance and I’m 54 years old. Over the years, I’ve had my gall bladder taken out at a cost of $6,400 and an inguinal hernia repaired that cost me $3,550. I paid both of those bills myself and I’ve never been to an emergency room. Whether the person had health insurance or not, the only people I know that have gone to the emergency room for healthcare are immigrants. Unless you’ve had a traumatic injury, ER is a very poor choice for one’s medical problems.

I see. Now, care to tell me how you are going to be paying for the triple by-pass or chemotherapy regimen out of pocket? Do you have any understanding of what these cost? Let me give you a hint. When I was treated for cancer, the total amount of my out-of-pocket costs ran about $50,000. That was just the out of pocket and I have very good insurance. You should not kid yourself. If, God forbid, you should find that you have a blocked artery or get a cancer diagnosis, unless you are a very wealthy individual who can handle a couple of hundred grand out of pocket, you have a problem.

And of course the ER is a poor choice! What is somewhat stunning is that you don’t quite get that for millions of Americans, it is the only choice and those of us with insurance pay the bill.

Genuinely silly comment. There are good arguments to be made for your way of thinking but you’ve managed to miss them all.

I don’t think anyone is unaware of the wait times in countries with socialized medical systems. What you managed to forget is that the wait times in this country for people without access to care are a whole lot longer- like forever. Yes, there is good and bad in the varying systems but to pretend that its all bad in the UK or Canada reveals you to either be ignorant or purposely misleading. Every bit of data reveals that the overwhelming majority of Canadians, Brits and others in nations with a socialized system are happy with their care. That doesn’t mean we have to do it here if it doesn’t fit our culture, but it does mean that people like you reveal yourself to be clueless when you say silly things like suggesting that the commenter is a shill for the government because he disagrees with your preferred approach.

And let’s be honest. If it is the lines and wait times that worry you, why not just come out and say that you’re good with a system where you can get health care if you can afford it (as you apparently can) and for those who can’t…well, that’s life.

I won’t even begin to take the time to dispute your ridiculous remark regarding the Democratic party and the Constitution.

When you stop drowning in your ideology and want to actually understand problems so they can be solved, maybe I’ll spend more time on you then.

Feel free to Google the Kaiser Family Foundation study on this (don’t confuse the foundation with Kaiser Permanente as they are two different things). You can question them if that is your choice, but their research is considered to be the best and the most non-partisan available.

Yes, really look into this bit of federal takeover social engineering. How about expanding Medicaid, great idea right? With foster kids on Medicaid I know that it is already very difficult to find a Dr who will take Medicaid. Those that will are not exactly the cream of the crop either. Handing out millions of additional Medicaid cards solves nothing with so few Drs willing to accept it already. Typical top down stupid government approach. I suppose the next thing will be to force Drs to take Medicaid. We haven’t seen the half of price increases. The stupid law increases demand for healthcare without increasing supply. Oh well, just legislate away supply and demand. Onward to the glorious collectivist Obamcare future, comrades.

And your voice isn’t the voice of arrogance, huh, and your “loud noises” aren’t anything more than your grumbling and whining motivated by greed. Could it be that you are only spouting opinions and not facts. It is pretty outrageous to consider that psychiatry is not health care and it screams of your ignorance of what entails health in the human condition. You might want to impose Sparta, disparity, and discordance with your ideas of what health entail or not … but your whole mentality is unhealthy … and supports a pathos of vices mostly arranged around greed and selfishness.